Ski resort-style cable car plan for Huddersfield

Oct 13 2010 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

SKI resort-style cable cars could one day carry people in and out of Huddersfield town centre, the Examiner can exclusively reveal.

Ground-breaking proposals to transport shoppers half a mile on 16-seat gondolas from the Galpharm Stadium to the Media Centre on Southgate and back have been discussed by top-level officials.

The idea was first mooted when plans for the £100m HD One shopping and leisure complex were being developed.

It was dropped from the final planning application – approved in January – but is likely to be revived at some point within the next few years.

Kirklees Council’s head of regeneration Ken Gillespie said: “As a council which supports innovation, we are interested in alternative forms of transport to link the town centre to the proposed HD One development.

“As we understand it, the cable car was withdrawn from the original application to enable the developers to progress with the scheme at a faster pace.

“To include the cable car would have slowed down the planning process.

“However, there is still opportunity for the cable car to be added back in at a later date following further planning and investigation.”

HD One will see 51 acres of unused land around the Galpharm developed into a huge complex including 147 apartments, a 144-bed hotel, an air chimney, a ski slope, a casino, 21 bars and restaurants, a surf simulator, 10-pin bowling alley, two nightclubs, a music venue, offices and a bingo hall.

It will create 900 jobs.

Building work is due to start in 2012, with a projected timescale of 40 months to completion. The cable car proposal was conceived to benefit businesses in both the town centre and at HD One.

Ralph Rimmer, the former managing director of the Galpharm, who left the job last week, was one of the people behind HD One.